stage two: the highlights

26 december flew into providence and drove to eastford, connecticut, aka barlowtown. that night and the next day were spent in the company of all the northeast barlows. zeb gets a jumping machine.

30 december the eshelman family Christmas party: the feast, including korv, the ever-famous sock meat; family pictures of the ~40 person clan; gift exchanges from the grandparents and cousins; concluding with the 2+ hour yankee swap, where i got a bob the builder watch and the culminating swap was for a tube of vegemite.

30 december the evening after the korv fest was the annual nugget eating contest. all the cousins looking for a stomach ache, and one uncle this year, gathered around a table as five hundred nuggets came out of the oven. the ten contestants ate rounds of five nuggets a piece. jen lasted the longest for the girls, eating 30 nuggets. jeremy held his title for the third year running by eating 56 nuggets, much to the dismay of his mother and girl. he spent time on an i.v. in a hospital shortly after...

2 january lunch with nathan and new fiancee anika at her apartment, then rolled off to amherst for supper with jeff, mary, shane, and new baby macey.

3 january drove to pennsylvania to see barlow parents' new house, a great big place on a hill in lehigh valley. bought zeb a new suitcase and repacked to get ready for the return trip on thursday.

we'll be back in manila in about 48 hours...